Nashik, August 27, 2016 – Round 2 of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship(INRC) – the MRFRally of Maharashtra held it’s pre-event Press Conference at The Gateway Hotel and Shakedown at Sandip University. The championship will have 5 rounds in different parts of the country (schedule given in page 2). To welcome foreign drivers and cars, a separate championship known as the MRF FMSCI Indian Rally Championship(IRC) is also being run concurrently. Indian drivers in Indian cars are eligible for the INRC while Indian or Foreign drivers in Indian or Foreign cars are eligible for the IRC.

Round 2 of the INRC and IRC, the MRFRally of Maharashtra covers around 400 kms., which includes 75 kms. of special stages (driving tracks) on tarmac roads. The routes of the stages are closed sections of public/private roads which have been disclosed to competitors for reconnaissance. The 6 special stages (driving tracks) of the rally to be covered by the teams on the 28th Aug are around Bhandardara, on the outskirts of the city, while the pre-event Shakedown was at Sandip University today. Shakedown, a concept introduced this year, is a procedure conducted to provide some pre-rally practice & testing to all the competitors. Top seeded drivers took dignitaries and media personnel as passengers and drove around the shakedown stage in their rally cars.

Mr. Arindam Ghosh, Director, RRPM said, “We are happy to be back in Nashik, the only tarmac event of the season, which has given us extremely exciting events in the past. I am sure this year will be no different. I thank MRF Tyres, Mahindra Adventure, Pincon and Polaris for their continued support and wish all competitors and the entire team of WISA the very best.”

Mr. Burkule Sameer, the Clerk of the Course, said “The MRF Rally of Maharashtra is the only tarmac event of the MRF FMSCI INRC and IRC 2016 calendar and is one of the fastest events of the year. The cars are expected to touch up to 190 kmph at places, which will be a visual treat to all motorsports lovers. We thank RRPM for bringing in MRF, Mahindra Adventure, Pincon and Polaris to support Indian Rallying and also our event. We are also thankful to our long-term sponsors – The Gateway Hotel, Red FM, Sandip University and Nashik Police Department.”

32 teams in the MRF Rally of Maharashtra include top drivers of India like Gaurav Gill, Amittrajit Ghosh and Sunny Sidhu of Team Mahindra Adventure as well as Arjun Rao Aroor, Rahul Kanthraj, Karna Kadur and others. The INRC received 27 entries through its various classes, being a) INRC Overall – upto 3500cc cars including turbo factor, b) INRC 2000cc and c) FMSCI Cup for vehicles homologated prior to 31st December 2007 while the IRC, which is still at a nascent stage, received the remaining 5 entries with the Evo VIII of Abhilash P G and Evo X of Samir Thapar being the top contenders in this championship.

It must be noted that the INRC and IRC are two separate championships and their results are not clubbed together or compared as they run distinctively different vehicles, most importantly, the INRC is for two wheel driveIndian vehicles only while the four wheel driveforeign vehicles are allowed in the IRC.

The prizes for the different categories are as follows:

Position

1st

2nd

3rd

INRC Overall

Rs 50,000/- + Trophies

Rs 30,000/- + Trophies

Rs 20,000/- + Trophies

IRC

Rs 50,000/- + Trophies

Rs 30,000/- + Trophies

Rs 20,000/- + Trophies

INRC 2000 cc

Rs 50,000/- + Trophies

Rs 30,000/- + Trophies

Rs 20,000/- + Trophies

FMSCI Cup

Rs 40,000/- + Trophies

Rs 30,000/- + Trophies

Rs 20,000/- + Trophies

Round 1 of the INRC in Coimbatore was won by Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik of Team Mahindra Adventure followed by their teammates Sunny Sidhu and Srinivas Murthy P V as the first runners-up and Dean Mascarenhas and Shanmuga S N as the second runners-up.

The IRC was won by Abhilash P G and Srikanth Gowda followed by Mohammed Kasim A A and Sanath G as the first runners-up and Samir Thapar and Gurinder S Mann as the second runners-up.

The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), the governing body for all motorsport events in India has given the rights to promote the INRC and IRC to Ramakrishna Race Performance Management Pvt. Ltd. (RRPM), which has roped in marquee companies like MRF Tyres, Mahindra Adventure, Polaris and Pincon as key sponsors for the Indian rally season.

About RRPM:

Ramakrishna Race Performance Management Pvt. Ltd. (RRPM) is a company formed with the sole intention of promoting “Professional Motorsports” in India and provides all kinds of technical assistance and information required to be at par with the National Level.

RRPM was started in 2003 by Mr. Arindam Ghosh, an icon in his own rights with rallying and organizational experience of over 40 years. RRPM is proud to be a part of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, which is the apex body of India.